‘I never dreamed ... I’d be a name on his jersey’

Pedal by pedal and stride by stride, this father and daughter duo had been racing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society long before cancer affected them personally.

“After the first time I did the race, it was such an amazing experience,” said East Peorian Steve Cline, who completed his sixth Century Ride in September. “It really was a neat, fulfilling experience, so I’ve been doing it every year since.”

Following in her father’s footsteps, Allison Cline, 27, began to participate in marathons about three years ago.

Both Clines race with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.

“I really wanted to get involved, too,” she said. “But, I’m not a cyclist at all. I’m more of a runner.”

After years of raising money for cancer research, both said they never expected what happened next.

Cheryl Cline, 57, the family’s mother and wife, was diagnosed with lymphoma Aug. 13.

“I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I’d be a name on his jersey,” she said. “It really was an emotional experience when I was (at the race) in September, because that time, they were doing it for me.”

It all started early in June when she was at one of her son’s basketball games, she said.

While waiting for the game to start, two kids from the opposing team knocked her over as they were going after a ball, she recalled.

“I was shaken up, and maybe two or three weeks later, I felt a pain in my back,” she said, adding that her daughter finally made her see a doctor. “The pain was really bad.”

After an X-ray, she was told everything was fine. But when the pain only got worse, she went to the chiropractor and found she had a compression fracture in her spine.

After multiple visits to the chiropractor, the pain did not improve, she said. More tests, MRIs and a biopsy eventually showed that she had lymphoma and a tumor that had eroded part of her spine.

“So, when I was knocked down, that part of my spine was weak, and that’s what gave me the fracture,” Cline said. “It was actually a blessing that I got knocked down because I had no symptoms. And when I was diagnosed, (the cancer) was stage three already.”

“We need to send that kid a thank-you letter for running into her,” Allison Cline added.

Cline’s reaction to her cancer diagnosis included shock and anger, but she said her family, friends and co-workers were all very supportive.

“At first there was the shock of it. I really felt like I wasn’t even in my own body when she told me,” she said, adding grief followed the shock. “Then, after I got through that, I really got mad. I started thinking, ‘You know, I want to see my kids get married, I want to see my grandchildren.’ I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t have time for this.’”

She added that her family kept her spirits up, and they did not let her “throw a pity party” very often.

“Your attitude really plays an important part,” she said.

Cline, a speech therapist in Washington School District 50, returned to work after just three weeks of chemotherapy treatment.

“I would joke about it with my colleagues,” she said. “I told them just to treat me as normally as possible and to not feel sorry for me. The people I worked with were great.”

With her last chemotherapy treatment in December, Cline is now in remission and continues to cheer her husband and daughter along in their races.

But now, she does so as a survivor.

Allison Cline is busy training for the 2010 Christie Clinic Marathon in May. She is hosting a benefit from 5 to 8 p.m. April 17 at the Fieldhouse Bar and Grill in Peoria. At that time, 10 percent of sales will go to Team in Training.

During her last race at the Chicago Marathon, Allison said she wore a jersey that read “Running 26.2 for Mom.”

She said she plans on doing it again in May.

“It really takes on a whole new meaning,” she said.